Sundaze 197

Doesn’t this week feel like it crawled at snails’ pace? Like the other weeks this month, I’ve found it hard to focus and get anything of note done. To-do lists were made with good intentions, and then I’d find myself racing to get them ticked off at 4.30pm because my daytime hours were all ‘nothing but vibes’. Of course lockdown has a big part to play, and I’m slowly learning to give myself a little grace, but it’s tricky nonetheless.

As ever, I’m not feeling too stressed about the fact that January has been an Extreme Slow Burner. It’s been a terrible month for myriad reasons, but I’m hopeful for February. Not only does it mark Chinese New Year – celebrated on the 12th February this year – it should be a touch less rainy, which means we can all enjoy a little more of the outdoors. Safely and distanced, of course. It’ll also be the last month of my twenties, for your girl turns 30 on 2nd March. The big three oh. Expect plenty of musings about the passing of time and ruminating about twenties’ life…

A balanced week… in a roundabout way

Despite this week feeling like a huge drag, I’ve had the loveliest end to the week. From managing to catch a rare non-rainy slice in the week to go for a walk and get some fresh air, to celebrating Milo’s 5th birthday, I’m making strides in learning how to slow things down and find my own pace. For so long I’ve been focused on people pleasing, it feels really odd (in a good way!) to claim my time as mine and untangle what it is I want from my days, weeks, months and future.

It rained and snowed all of Saturday, which meant I had all the time in the world to drift around the house. Reading a little here and there. Helping Mama out. Shooting some & Chai campaign photos. Picking up the groceries. I want to say I’ll miss these days ‘when lockdown is over’, but I’m already making it a non-negotiable to keep these days firmly in my diary.

Our Chinese New Year launch is live!

On Monday, we launched our Chinese New Year product bundle on & Chai. And we’re so excited that it’s in collab with our incredibly talented friend Winnie AND that it’s a charity product. The bundle is designed to bring you a joyful and refreshing Lunar New Year from home. A citrus orange candle to invite those familiar fragrances to your sanctuary, and two adorable prints to hang.

10% of the proceeds from this limited edition set will be donated to the CMHA (Chinese Mental Health Association), a UK-based charity and a place for Chinese people in the UK to receive tailored help for mental health issues. It’s been a really, really tough year for the Chinese diaspora, with anti-Asian sentiment spreading everywhere. We’re so proud to be able to do our part.

Lockdown dining

I miss eating in London. There, I said it. For every complaint I make about those awful commutes, there was always a delicious meal to be had. Omnipork have finally launched in the UK; they create plant-based protein and meat replacements over in Hong Kong for dishes like siu mai, Hainanese chicken rice, and baked pork chop rice to name a few. So you can imagine my excitement that they’re launching by collaborating with popular Asian plant-based eateries in London.

We ordered Eat Chay’s Vietnamese Omnipork noodle salad. And it was delicious. I couldn’t recommend it more! The kit was easy to put together, SO tasty, and the portions were really generous.

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